I got a chance to get a lot of information on the new Nikon Coolpix S52 and S52c, which were announced in April. I never was a big fan of the Nikon point-and-shoot cameras, but after a very detailed explanation and review of the Nikon S51c compared to the S52, I am happy to say my next point-and-shoot just may very well be a Nikon.

Nikon introduced the new COOLPIX S52 and S52c to its Style Series of digital cameras. These cameras combine Nikon’s interesting (still not sure if I like it) wave-surface camera body with advanced features designed to produce great pictures with ease. With 9.0 megapixels, a 3x Zoom-NIKKOR lens, Optical Vibration Reduction (VR) Image Stabilization and manual sensitivity settings (as high as ISO 3200), the COOLPIX S52 and S52c are not going to fail you in taking pictures at great quality in any setting.

Like most cameras these days, the COOLPIX S52 and S52c feature Optical VR Image Stabilization technology. These cameras also boast an AUTO ISO control, which automatically selects the optimal sensitivity across a range between ISO 100 and ISO 800, and up to ISO 2000 in High-Sensitivity mode. The S52 and S52c come with a 3x Zoom-NIKKOR lens designed to capture brilliant detail (like the 51) and vivid colors in every photo. What I love about this camera is the huge 3.0-inch high-resolution LCD screen. I currently have a Canon and although great cameras, the screen is nothing compared to these.

Like all cameras in the COOLPIX line, the S52 and S52c include Nikon’s unique image innovations including enhanced Face-Priority AF, which automatically finds and focuses on up to five faces within the frame; In-Camera Red-Eye Fix, which can automatically detect and correct red eye in a photo; and D-Lighting, which compensates for excessive backlight or insufficient flash in images.

In my article, “The Next Big Thing of 08,” I mentioned WiFi being a common thing in devices this year. The Nikon S52c does not prove me wrong offering WiFi built right in. The Wi-Fi enabled S52c can send images directly via email through its Wi-Fi connection, as well as support for “My Picturetown”, Nikon’s photo sharing and storage service. Through “My Picturetown”, users can email pictures directly to friends and family, publish pictures to the photo community sharing Website Flickr, and link their photos to blogs and social networking sites. Pictures can also be sent to the email addresses of a BlackBerry® device for viewing. So, essentially, you could take pictures, upload them on the fly, and move on, all without the use of a computer. I’d recommend a computer however.

Another cool feature I like is the Pictmotion function which will allow users to combine their favorite movies and photos and create in-camera slide shows with music including songs uploaded from iTunes. What will the stylish, feature-packed camera cost? Not much actually. The S52 has a price of $249.95, and the S52c will cost a little more at $299.95. They will be available this month. For even more information and stunning pictures, take a look at http://www.nikonusa.com.

Along with the rest of the known planet, I am still waiting for someone to knock the iPod off it’s perch as “most sought after MP3 player,” and this is Samsung’s latest attempt, the YP-P2.

The YP-P2 comes with stereo Bluetooth, high quality video playback, a large screen with drag and drop features, and looks pretty darn good.

BUT, and this is a big but, the YP-P2 doesn’t support many audio formats: no AAC, no lossless WMA or WAV support. The lack of AAC support means DRM-free songs from the iTunes Plus music store won’t play and neither will audiobooks from audible, and the best word to describe the included headphone would be, “cheap.”

The browser works well and looks good, but the huge piece of glass on the front of the player is wont to pick up scratches and dirty fingerprints faster than a new Porsche parked outside a high school in downtown Detroit.

All in all, it’s a good player, feels solid, thanks mainly to the aforesaid smudged glass on the screen but, it’s no iPod touch, and I’d be hard pushed not to suggest a few bucks extra on the Apple would be well spent.

A- for style, B+ for effort, C- for audio support and a “could do better if he tried harder,” on this ones’ report card. A++++ for the promo girls at the release though. See me after school.

A little while back, I took some time to give you a review of the recently released public beta of Flock. One thing I noticed about Flock 1.0 as well as previous versions was that they are packed with features. Whether you don’t know about them, or you just don’t know how to use them, I am going to take some more time to tell you how you can make the most out of Flock’s best features.

Flock is a great browser. What I once blew off as a joke browser is now my primary. I remember playing around with Flock around the time they released their first version and even then, I thought it was feature packed. My problem was that I did not want to get to know another browser. Call it laziness I guess, but I was just comfortable with FireFox so I quickly removed it not really giving it a chance. I am here to tell you not make the same mistake I did and to take a look at Flock feature number 1:

How to: Set up Accounts

Once installed, Flock will want to make itself your primary browser. I usually hold off on doing that until I get to know the browser a little better so I recommend you holding off on making it the default until you make your decision. The first thing I did was connect it to my social networking account – Facebook. MySpace is another one so to do this; you will have to introduce yourself to the sidebar menu, which is where you will find nine neat icons. You will find links split up into four sections for people, media sharing, blogging, and social bookmarking. Clicking each of the links will take you to the site or service. If you are registered to any, simply type in your login information and Flock will do the rest.

How to: Use The People Button

The most useful feature you’re likely to end up using, and what really makes Flock fun, is the people button. Clicking it will pull up all your personal contacts from Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter. I have a Facebook account, so I simply typed in my information and all my friends magically appeared with updated information. What is cool is that you can do many of the features you do on the site. For example, if I wanted to message my friend Matt, all I would have to do is click the “Actions” button and “Message” is one of the options.

How to: View Media and Add RSS Feeds

Another cool feature is the media bar at the top. It is a simple toolbar that you can toggle with the photo button that is just to the right of the people button in Flock’s menu controls. The mini-bar shows photo and video thumbnails from any services in which you are connected, and lets you browse entire photo albums without visiting the site. The service connects with streams from Flickr, Photobucket, and Facebook for photos, along with YouTube and AOL’s video service for video clips. If you are visiting a site with a media stream, the little camera button in the address bar will light up. You simply click it and the mini bar magically appears.

Now I was not a big fan of RSS feeds. I simply visited the site to get what I wanted. It wasn’t until recently that I used RSS a little more than I did. Flock makes it very simple and very manageable on a page called “My World.” There are a few ways to add RSS feeds, by either hitting the RSS button while browsing a site and clicking the “subscribe” option on the top of the page, or importing a list of your feeds from another service.

How To: Sharing

If you’re a media creator, like myself, Flock’s got a built-in photo uploader that will take photos from your computer’s hard drive, and post them to Facebook, Flickr, and Piczo. To get started, just hit the up arrow, which you will find on the right side of Flock’s menu controls, and a screen will appear where you can drag and drop your photos. Each service you use has different rules and settings for tags and groupings, so pay attention.

How To: Use Blogging Feature

If you’re a blogger, Flock has a built-in blogging tool. It works with several popular services including Wordpress, Blogger, LiveJournal and Typepad. Here at The Tech Brief, we use Wrodpress, and it works like a charm. You can drag pictures over from the media bar, or your clipboard and pretty much do what you’ll find in any 3^rd party blogging tool. Right clicking a photo, link, or selection of text will bring up the “blog this” option for easy blogging.

To set up your blog for posting, just click on blog icon that’s to the left of the photo uploader icon. Then click on “tools” then “configure blog accounts.” Either pick out a supported service, or choose the “I host my blog” option, followed by the URL and your user login. Pretty simple!

Hot to: Add Extensions

Flock is based on the same underlying code as Firefox, and basic features work the same, so if you’re a Firefox user you’ll feel right at home. I’ve noticed that you are able to use some the same extension that FireFox uses, so that is very nice. Flock also has its own listing of extensions. Flock’s directory of extensions mainly focuses on blogging tools, social networks, and widgets.

The new Flock is an impressive piece of work. I can only imagine the software improving in the future and there is no telling what the future holds for this great browser. Download it. Try it out. Get your feet wet and you will probably stumble into features you will absolutely love, because they are so many more. And it is free, so what are you waiting for?

Flock 1.0 – Features review from doncrowley on Vimeo.

If you haven’t heard of this Website, you might be surprised to know that your dog is using your computer while you are away to blog, post pictures and meet new doggy friends on Dogster.

Dogster is a social networking site for your dog – yes – your dog. Before anyone goes down-talking the idea, so far, it has been pretty successful with 337,505 members and that number increases each day. The site lets you do quite a bit by designing a Web page for your dog, enter your pup in photo contests, enter comments in the dog blog and there is even a chance that your pooch can be the “Dog of the Day”.

Besides having way too much time, there is no doubt that users of Dogster have love for their furry friends. However, the site is detailed and provides many options to view the community around them and offers the chance meet others in the area who have a strong interests in pets as well. You can go to Dogster for answers to common animal ailments, watch videos, get information on certain breeds and even buy doggie goods at the Dogster store. You can even adopt a dog on Dogster and I think that is a wonderful thing to offer.

Dogster is basically free but you can upgrade your account to DogsterPlus, which allows you to post more pictures, etc. Upgrading doesn’t seem necessary but I’m sure some have chosen to do it. And if you are not particularly a dog fanatic – they have a Catster as well and you can be a part of both for no additional cost.

[updated]: This post is getting tons of traffic, so I just want to welcome all the new visitors and hope you will come back and visit again. You can also stay current with tech news and sign up for our newsletter and a chance to get a free iPod nano. More Info here.

Google just added IMAP support to GMail a few days ago. My personal account was upgraded but I am still waiting for my Google for your domain account to upgrade. Right after I installed leopard, I setup my Apple Mail to connect to my Gmail account using IMAP (setup instructions)

[If you can't see the video, click here]

The good thing about this setup is that my tasks and notes are synced with my gmail account. It is not a perfect sync, since they just show up as messages in my “All Mail” folder labeled with Apple-specific labels.

One thing that bothered me, is the constant sync message that keeps popping up as I worked on notes and/or tasks. I am not sure what’s going on here… any ideas?

I have always used Microsoft Outlook on my PC because everything is integrated in one place, calendar, tasks, email, contacts and notes. Initially, I contemplated moving over to an all-apple (and Gmail) solution, but until they figure out all these sync messages and when Gmail adds true support for tasks and notes, I am going to have to wait. Plus, Entourage 2008 beta is looking really good(screenshots).

[updated]

Here is a quick video that shows you how to properly associate your trash, spam, drafts and sent folders with the correct Gmail folders when using IMAP

[If you can't see the video, click here]

Question: why isn’t Apple Mail called iMail?